SPINE-CHILLING HONEYMOON

I perfectly remember that cold winter night. It was January 13th,1860, the same day that Paul and I
had ust got married. !e were deeply in lo"e with each other and had decided to spend our
honeymoon somewhere remote from the city and the people we #new. !e were in"ited to the
lu$urious mansion that his uncle, %ord James, had in the country, and we accepted as we did not
ha"e any other better choice.
&fter lea"ing the train station, we had to wal# for a long time among the woods that led directly to
the house. I will ne"er forget the thic# mist of that scary silent night, when we were able to percei"e
the most insignificant sounds of 'ature. &s I was "ery frightened, I as#ed my dear Paul to put his
arm around me. (uddenly, we saw a dim light far in the distance that seemed to come from the
mansion we were loo#ing for. !e sighed and smiled at each other because we felt relie"ed.
)owe"er, it was a short*li"ed feeling since as we were approaching the dwelling, we found a
cemetery ust in front of the house. Paul tried to comfort me but I did not li#e the idea of sharing the
place for our honeymoon with the dead ancestors of my husband. &s we were passing by all those
gra"es, it started to rain hea"ily and I could see how a rusty cross was beginning to lean forward and
bac#ward as though somebody were pushing it from below. +hat sight made my hair stand on end
but Paul tried to con"ince me that it was only the blowing wind.
!e arri"ed at the house at last and %ord James welcomed us with open arms. )e was standing at the
hall with Joan, his new wife, and ,eronica, his stepdaughter. +hey were really #ind to us but there
was something in the way ,eronica loo#ed at Paul that made me feel terrified. (he was a short blond
girl whose eyes seemed to be hiding something.
!e went upstairs to our bedroom and I lay down on the bed for a few minutes. It was bitterly cold
and I realised that the window was wide open. I went to close it but I saw something that ga"e me
the creeps- there was a hole ne$t to a cross, ust as though somebody had been digging a tomb up.
.aybe I was going too far imagining things...+hat/s why I decided to rela$ and try to enoy my first
night at the house. &fter a while we oined the other for dinner. 0"erything was alright then and I
was beginning to feel calm again. 'e"ertheless, the light of the candles suddenly went out and we
were in complete dar#ness. I tried to hold my husband/s hand but I could not find him. +hen a for# of
lightning lit up the room and I saw that I was alone in there. I could not find any logical e$planation
as I was scared to death. %ea"ing the room in a hurry, I decided to loo# for Paul in order to run away
from that horrid place. I began to call him loudly without any answer, but then, there was another
bolt of lightning and I could see ,eronica and a strange man who seemed to be at death/s doors and
whose clothes were torn. +hey were wal#ing hand in hand towards me and I suddenly remembered
that tomb I had seen from the window. 1es, it was a 2ombie, I was sure. I tried to run away but I felt
how the 2ombie grasped my arm hea"ily. 3eing scared out of my wits, I began to cry and ust at that
moment, I opened my eyes and saw how Paul was grasping my arm trying to wa#e me up. I had
fallen asleep when I lay down on the bed and, from that "ery moment, e"erything had been part of a
nightmare.
I held Paul tight and, after a while, we oined the others for dinner. (uddenly, the lights of the
candles went out...
SPINE-CHILLING HONEYMOON
Answer the following questions:
1 !h" #i# the $rot%gonists of our stor" go to Lor# &%'es( M%nsion)
* How #i# the" feel on the w%" to the house)
+ !h" #i# the n%rr%tor #isli,e the house fro' the -er" .eginning)
/ !ho w%s 0eroni1% %n# !h" #i#n2t the n%rr%tor li,e her)
3 !h%t #i# the n%rr%tor see fro' her .e#roo' win#ow)
4 !h%t #i# she #e1i#e %fter th%t)
5 !h" w%s she so s1%re# when the light went out)
6 !h%t #i# she see when the se1on# .olt of lightning lit u$ the roo')
7 !h%t h%$$ene# when the 8o'.ie gr%s$e# her %r')
19 !h%t #oes the n%rr%tor w%nt us to thin, when he le%-es the en# of the stor"
o$en)
THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
vR!"RAemIvbI
#. Who we$e the %$&t peop'e to ce'eb$ate Ha''owee(?
). Why *+* the ,a-a(& u&e* to -athe$ a(* '+-ht %$e& at
Ha''owee(?
.. Whe( *+* Ha''owee( be-a( to me$-e w+th /atho'+c 0e&t+va'&?
1. Whe( +& A'' Sa+(t& 2ay ce'eb$ate*?
3. What wa& A'' Sa+(t& 2ay o$+-+(a''y ca''e*?
4. Wh+ch -$oup o0 peop'e +(t$o*uce* the ho'+*ay to the u(+te*
State&?
5. What +& the cu&tom o0 p'ay+(- p$a(6& at Ha''owee( ca''e*?
ANSWERS
1. Why did the protagonists of our story go to Lord James' Mansion?
They chose that place for their honeymoon
2. How did they feel on the way to the house?
They were scared and frightened
. Why did the narrator disli!e the house from the "ery #eginning?
$ecause there was a cemetery near the house
%. Who was &eronica? Joan's daughter and Why didn't the narrator li!e her?
$ecause she had a strange loo! in her eyes that seemed to #e hiding
something
(. What did the narrator see from her #edroom window?
)he saw a tom# that seemed to ha"e #een dug up
*. What did she decide after that?
To rela+ and try to en,oy her stay in the house
-. Why was she so scared when the light went out?
$ecause she realised that she was alone in the room and didn't understand
anything
.. What did she see when the second #olt of lightning lit up the room?
)he saw &eronica and a /om#ie wal!ing hand in hand towards her
0. What happened when the /om#ie grasped her arm?
)he wo!e up from that horri#le nightmare
11. What does the narrator want us to thin! when he lea"es the end of the
story open?
That her nightmare had #een a premonition of what would happen later on
&23456 The History of Halloween
http677www.youtu#e.com7watch?"89:&9;em2"#2
)cript6
NARRATOR:
From communion with the dead, to pumpkins and pranks, Halloween is a patchwork holiday, stitched
together with cultural, religious and cult traditions that spans centuries.
It all egan with the !elts, a people whose culture had spread across "urope more than #$$$ years ago.
Octoer %&st was the day they celerated the end o' har(est season in a 'esti(al called )amhain.
That night also marked the !eltic new year and was consider the time etween years, a magical time
when the ghost o' the dead walk the "arth.
*It was the time when the (eil etween death and li'e was supposed to e at its thinnest*.
NARRATOR:
On )amhain, the (illagers gathered and lit huge on'ires to dri(e the dead ack to the spirit world and
keep them away 'rom the li(ing.
+ut, as the !atholic churches in'luence grew in "urope, it 'rowned on the pagan ritual like )amhain.
In the ,th century, the -atican egan to merge it with a church sanction holiday, so No(emer &st was
designated All )aints .ay to honour martyrs and the deceased 'aith'ul.
*+oth o' these holidays had to do with the a'terli'e and aout sur(i(al a'ter death.
It was a calculated mo(e on the part o' the church to ring more people into the 'old.*
NARRATOR:
All )aints/ .ay was known then as Hallowmas.
Hallow means holy or saintly, so the translation is roughly mass o' the saints.
The night e'ore Octoer %&st was All Hallows/ "(e which gradually morphed into Halloween.
The holiday came to America with the wa(e o' Irish immigrants during the potato 'amine o' the &01$s.
They rought se(eral o' their holiday customs with them including oing 'or apples and playing tricks on
neighours like remo(ing gates 'rom the 'ront o' houses.
The young pranksters were masked, so they wouldn/t e recogni2ed.
+ut, o(er the years, the tradition o' harmless tricks grew into outright (andalism.
*+ack in the &3%$s, it really ecame a dangerous holiday.
I mean there was a such a hooliganism and (andalism.
Trick or treating was originally a e4tortion deal.
5i(e us candy or we/ll trash your house.*
NARRATOR:
)torekeepers and neighours egan gi(ing treats or ries to stop the tricks and children were
encouraged to tra(el door6to6door 'or treats as an alternati(e to troulemaking.
+y the late %$s, trick or treat ecame a holiday ingredient.